"Yes, The Past Can Hurt, But You Can Either Run From It or You Can Learn From It" - PTR - COMPLETED 9/20 #184 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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"Yes, The Past Can Hurt, But You Can Either Run From It or You Can Learn From It" - PTR - COMPLETED 9/20 #184
This is my first pre trip report here on the boards, enjoy!
Cast of Characters:
Me (Erin -43): The planner of this family and I take my job very seriously, especially with the cost involved in going on a Disney Vacation.
DH (William-45): The non-planner of the group….He just wants to go on the rides…Tower of Terror, Rock N’ Roll Coaster, Mount Expedition, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain
DS (Joshua – 13): My son has moderate autism, sensory processing disorder, and ADHD like symptoms. He also loves to ride the same ones as his dad, so my DH has a great riding partner, since I’m chicken. But, I’m going to try to get up my nerve and go for it this time.
I promise I'll be in the picture next time .
Learning from our last trip….and what I will not do again such as…Flying:
This past December, after a five year hiatus from my favorite place, I decided it was time for a five day trip with the idea of spending one day at each of the theme parks. I found great tickets on JetBlue leaving out of Reagan Airport to Orlando International Airport; however the flight going out was at 7:00 am which would mean getting up at 3 am if we planned on taking the airport shuttle there. So, instead we rode a taxi to the Holiday Inn near the airport and we were able to sleep in until five.
The next morning we get up and I am nervous. The last time Joshua flew he was eight and he slept on the airplane and now he is thirteen and with all the new rules from TSA, I was to say the least a little concerned. I called the TSA care line and informed them of my son’s condition and how he might have difficulty handling security lines. The TSA help desk was wonderful and informed me they would allow special arrangements if we needed them.
So I made a quick check of our luggage and passes we made our way to the airport via the hotel shuttle. I’m getting ready to check in our one luggage…the rest being carry-on, when the bag handler says, “I need to see your ID”. Panic…where’s my purse? …Yikes. I must stay calm…breathe, ok I’ll call the hotel since I must have left it on the shuttle, no problem right? Its 6:00 and I get a text message…boarding will begin at 6:30. The shuttle comes back and its 6:10 I quickly hop inside and start looking at where I sat… and find no purse. Now I’m ready to cry, the driver tells me everything is going to be fine and that it’s mostly like back in the room. So I run into the lobby, the manager quickly hands me a key and I run upstairs….open the door….and still no purse! I go downstairs distraught and make my way back on the shuttle van trying to think out we are going make our flight, I start look under all the seats and oh joy of joys…there lies my purse I’m starting to think we’ll make this trip finally. I arrived back at the airport at 6:20 and we quickly rushed down to the security area, which for once wasn’t crowded and we were able to make it to our gate on time. Whew!
Even the flight back had a few bumps in them. My son will form a plan in his mind and when this happens it’s very difficult to get him to corporate with us. When we landed in Orlando, we got off the plane made our way to the shuttle train to the main terminal and then rode the Magical Express. So, of course when we were heading home, Joshua decides just to reverse everything. First the Magic Express, than the train, then the plane. As you might notice there is one important step missing … you guess it the security check point. Joshua refused, screamed, cried, and even start running toward the train via the exit side. Yikes. William had to run after him and restrain him, while I looked for assistant from the TSA. Finally, a supervisor came up and was kind enough to escort us through the employee line after I explained to him the situation.
So this time I’m making new plans…..Yep we’re driving
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
"Yes the past can hurt, but you can either run from it or you can learn from it " PTR update 05/26/2013
Now that you have met the cast, time for some more info on our upcoming trip. When:
We are going to be taking this year’s vacation in September from the 22nd through the 28th. We’ll be there from Sunday to Sunday. We going to leave on the following Saturday; spend the night in Georgia and arrive there on Sunday, hopefully sometime in the afternoon. Where:
For the first our family is going to be staying at Port Orleans Riverside Resort. In the past we stayed at Pop Century or the All Stars Sport, but after looking at the cost of the rooms, we decided we could afford the upgrade, since we were going in the fall. Will and I stayed at the CBR when it first opened up and have been hoping to get back to a moderate again, so we’re looking forward to our stay at this resort. Joshua can’t wait either since there is so much more to do there than at the value resorts.
Why or better yet “What are you celebrating” this time?
Disney Magic is great especially when sharing favorite occasions with the family. Back in 2004 when my son turned five, we decided to celebrate the big occasion at Disney World. We enjoyed it so much we came back the following year for his sixth, seventh and eighth birthday.
Then in 2007, both my husband and I lost our jobs and were unemployed for a year before we were able to find work again. It took us five years to get back on our feet financially since we both took a huge paycut. But we're both happy to say We're gainfully employed we have a few dollars in the bank and we are setting our eyes back on vacationing again J
So last June, we finally said our favorite Rafiki motto “It is time”, and made plans to celebrate my 43rd birthday at the magic kingdom. My birthday is in the early part of December, before the winter break so we thought this would be a great time to go. It would also give us the opportunity to see the Christmas decorations and even attend MVMCP.
At this point Will and I didn’t have a lot of leave saved up, so we decide to go down there for six night, which would allow us a day at each park. We started the trip by arriving on Wednesday and flying home the following Monday. While this time frame gave us a nice discount on the airfare, it caused us grief on visiting the parks each day as they were quite unexpectedly crowded for that time of the year. Joshua had difficulty dealing with the crowds, especially as we headed into the weekend. His numereous meltdowns left us no choice but to spend the majority of our time back at the resort. The weather was cold so we couldn't even go swimming. We’re hoping that with alot of along with changing our time frame to going in September that the crowd level will be more tolerable for him.
I really enjoy and I’m lucky enough to have it again (we had this on our last trip) for this upcoming trip...the free dining plan. We’re looking forward to having our favorite character breakfasts, where it gives Joshua the opportunity to greet his friends.
On this previous vacation we decided on the last seating possible in the hopes the restaurants wouldn’t be so crowded and would allow us more time to interact with the characters. Of course by doing this there was a price to pay. Our breakfast ended up being from 10 to 12, which of course landed us right smack in the middle of the day, when the park was at it worse in regards to crowd level.
I also thought it would be fun going to different character breakfast each day. We had breakfast at Crystal Place, Play and Dine, Chef Mickey's and Tusker House. I later found out that Joshua hated going to a different restaurant each day, so this time around we’re only going to be eating at Chef Mickey’s and the Crystal Place (his two favorite) and we changed our time to the early 7:30 am seating for Chef Mickey's and 8:40 for CP. we should be able to finish early enough so that we can head into the parks before it gets too crowded.
Fast forwarding to this April and taking into heart the great advice from our friend Rafiki who tells us, “Oh yes, the past can hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it”, we decided to implement all these changes from not flying to driving; going from a weekend visit to a lets go during the week visit; and having an earlier breakfast time in the hopes we get it right this time.
Of course we also have reason to celebrate, that’s the whole reason for going isn’t it? My DH and I will be celebrating our 17th Anniversary. So in just a few more months we'll be on our way
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WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Great start! Sounds like driving will work out much better for you all!
I believe it will and I'm feeling much more relaxed this time already.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
more please
I plan on posting some more about it today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilsEagles08
Great start! You've learned so much from your previous trips!
Thanks! One thing I love about Disney is there is so much to do and each time is a new experience, so I love going there even when things don't go as planned.
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. I must stay calm…breathe, ok I’ll call the hotel 
since I must have left it on the shuttle, no problem right? Its 6:00 and I get a text message…boarding will begin at 6:30. The shuttle comes back and its 6:10 I quickly hop inside and start looking at where I sat… and find no purse. Now I’m ready to cry, the driver tells me everything is going to be fine and that it’s mostly like back in the room. So I run into the lobby, the manager quickly hands me a key and I run upstairs….open the door….and still no purse! 
I go downstairs distraught and make my way back on the shuttle van trying to think out we are going make our flight, I start look under all the seats and oh joy of joys…there lies my purse 
I’m starting to think we’ll make this trip finally. I arrived back at the airport at 6:20 and we quickly rushed down to the security area, which for once wasn’t crowded and we were able to make it to our gate on time. Whew! 
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Pixie Dust
at the magic kingdom. My birthday is in the early part of December, before the winter break so we thought this would be a great time to go. It would also give us the opportunity to see the Christmas decorations and even attend MVMCP. 
along with changing our time frame to going in September that the crowd level will be more tolerable for him. 
We’re looking forward to having our favorite character breakfasts, where it gives Joshua the opportunity to greet his friends. 
going to a different restaurant each day, so this time around we’re only going to be eating at Chef Mickey’s and the Crystal Place (his two favorite) 
and we changed our time to the early 7:30 am seating for Chef Mickey's and 8:40 for CP. we should be able to finish early enough so that we can head into the parks before it gets too crowded. 
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